Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Actress To Play Viper In The Wolverine?

With the exception of Hugh Jackman, I must admit that I am not all familiar with the actors that have been cast thus far in The Wolverine, the upcoming sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Set to be directed by James Mangold, the project recently added Japanese actors Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi, Tao Okamoto and Rila Fukushima as well as Will Yun Lee (who will play Silver Samurai) to the cast, but none of them are household names in America. It was rumored last week that Jessica Biel would be playing the role of Viper in the movie, lending the project another above-the-title name, but apparently that wasn't meant to be. Now Biel's replacement has been found and it's once again going to cause you to scratch your head and do an IMDb search.

According to Twitch, 20th Century Fox is now in talks with Russian actress Svetlana Khodchenkova to play the role of Viper in The Wolverine. The actress has been working in the industy for almost a decade now, mostly doing TV work in her homeland, but she does have some film experience and has even already made her English language debut, playing Irina in Tomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (she was the one who informed Tom Hardy's character that there was a Russian mole in at the top of British Intelligence). In the comics Viper, who has long had a complex relationship with Wolverine, actually hails from an unspecified Eastern European country, which actually makes Khodchenkova's casting a bit more accurate that Biel's. Production is scheduled to begin next month in Australia and Japan.

Do you like that Mangold is getting more international talent for his superhero movie or would you rather them cast actors that you actually recognize? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.